IRS refunds billions of dollars to identity thieves

WASHINGTON- In the last year, identity thieves have made a fortune off the IRS.

According to an Inspector General Report, the IRS paid out $3.6 billion in fraudulent tax refunds last year. Believe it or not, that's down from 2011, when the IRS paid out $5 billion.

An audit also found the IRS failed to prevent more than a million potentially fraudulent tax returns for 2011 from being processed. That includes 5,500 fraudulent returns by a single tax preparer for a refund of nearly $27 million.